Has anyone ever taught English in a foreign country?

Question

If so, what country ? What was it like? What's something you learned that you think others should know?

Answer 1

I taught for two years in Estonia and then for two years in the Czech Republic.

In Estonia I taught at a basic school (grades 6-9) and at a local high school for one day a week.  

In the CR I taught at a private language school, primarily adults.

In both places there was a certain amount of isolation.  The Estonian situation was tougher because I was the only person from the US on the island--did I mention I lived on an island?  But I learned that there are good folk everywhere and that the hopes and desires of people are universal.

Answer 2

I taught in Germany at a high school for a year.  It was a great experience.  Their high school goes from fifth to thirteenth grade (although they are trying to bring it down to twelve), so I worked with a lot of different age groups.  

Over there, kids are really encouraged to think for themselves and question authority in ways that we don't see here.  Makes being a teacher challenging because when you tell them something, it either has to be believable based on their own prior knowledge or you have to convince them that it's true.  I think it comes from previous generations being accused after WWII of being willing to accept what they were told and go along with it without really questioning, which later created a backlash that's still felt in the educational system.  "This must never happen again, so we'll make sure of that by teaching you history and giving you tools to think for yourself, analyze your opinions and pay attention."